How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 112 severe cases involving paint, lacquer, and varnish over the last decade. The most frequent injuries are cuts, lacerations, and punctures, which often result from high-pressure equipment failures. These wounds are frequently deep and require immediate surgical intervention to prevent permanent tissue damage.
Thermal burns and toxic exposure also represent significant risks. Because these injuries often affect your fingers and hands, they can lead to long-term impairment and loss of dexterity. You may face extended recovery periods and ongoing medical needs following these events.
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Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Injuries involving paint and varnish most often occur when you are struck by propelled substances, accounting for 42 percent of all reported incidents. This typically happens when high-pressure spray guns malfunction or are handled improperly, resulting in paint being injected directly into your skin. Contact with hot substances accounts for 28 percent of incidents, while the inhalation of harmful vapors accounts for 22 percent.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Struck by propelled object or substance | 47 |
| 2 | Contact with hot objects or substances | 31 |
| 3 | Inhalation of harmful substance | 24 |
| 4 | Flash fire | 6 |
| 5 | Explosion of nonpressurized vapors, gases, or liquids | 2 |
| 6 | Exposure to harmful substances— unspecified | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Construction accounts for 46 percent of all reported paint-related injuries, largely due to the frequent use of high-pressure spray equipment on structural steel and large-scale projects. Manufacturing follows as the second most common industry at 30 percent, where you are often exposed to hazardous vapors and pressurized systems during finishing processes.
Real cases like yours
Reports consistently show that injuries occur during routine maintenance, such as unclogging spray tips or cleaning equipment at the end of a shift. You are often harmed when a trigger is accidentally actuated while you are working on a clogged nozzle, leading to high-pressure injection. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you determine if employer negligence played a role.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | CT | Construction | "An employee was cleaning a spray paint gun at the end of the day when pressurized paint was injected from the paint gun into his left middle finger. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery." | |
| 2025 | MS | Construction | "An employee was painting structural steel below the bridge. The employee's spray gun became clogged and he went to unclog it. The spray gun rotated the tip of the gun and the trigger was actuated, causing paint to be injected into his finger. The employee suffered a high pressure injection wound to the finger and was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | VA | Manufacturing | "An employee was performing paint spraying operations when he experienced an issue with the spray gun. He twisted the spray tip back and forth to free some stuck material. The trigger assembly was actuated, causing paint to be injected into his left thumb. The paint entered into his bloodstream." | |
| 2025 | NY | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was painting the inside of a new parts-cleaning machine for electric motors and motor parts when the airborne paint exploded and burned the employee. The employee sustained burns to their neck, lower forearms, and hands." | |
| 2025 | NJ | Retail Trade | "An employee was working while contractors were painting in the store and the employee suffered an asthma attack due to the paint. The employee was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | AL | Wholesale Trade | "The store was being remodeled. Fumes from painting caused an employee to have an asthma attack." | |
| 2025 | MO | Manufacturing | "An employee was transferring paint from a high-pressure spray gun into a cup for touch-ups. While spraying paint from the spray gun, the paint pierced his skin and was injected into his left ring finger. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery to remove the paint from his finger. " | |
| 2024 | IL | Manufacturing | "An employee was pumping varnish from a holding tank into a tub for a production batch. He was filling the tub through a flex hose. When the hot varnish started flowing, it caused the flex hose to move and spray hot varnish. The employee sustained burns to their back requiring hospitalization." | |
| 2024 | FL | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was spray painting an area of a marine barge using a pressurized paint gun. Her glove became stuck to the gun. Her left hand came out of the glove and while trying to adjust the gun, paint was injected into her left middle finger. " | |
| 2024 | WI | Construction | "An employee was cleaning a spray paint gun when a urethane zinc-rich primer was injected into the top portion of his left middle finger. " |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.